


Into the Shadows

by Electricsheep78



Category: Original Work
Genre: DarkRomance, F/M, Longing, Nameless Characters, One Shot, Shadows - Freeform, darkfantasy, very short story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-29 00:11:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17797361
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Electricsheep78/pseuds/Electricsheep78
Summary: "I know you're there. I can feel your eyes upon me."For as long as she can remember he has walked with her in the light, always felt yet remaining unseen. He has loved her from afar, never daring to hope that she would love him in return, for to love him would curse her to forever walk in darkness. Will she follow him into the shadows?Short, one-shot romance.





	Into the Shadows

He watched her as he always did while she wandered through her father's extensive gardens. Hidden from sight, he admired the lines and curves of her body, the way the dappled sunlight lit her fiery hair, the secret smile on her lips as her fingers caressed flower petals and trailed over the rough bark of ancient trees. She paused under one such tree to watch a pair chattering magpies perched among its lofty branches and green leaves.    
  
“I know you're there. I can feel your eyes upon me,” she said softly. Resting an elegant hand on the tree's trunk, she glanced over her shoulder hoping to catch a glimpse of her silent admirer. “Always I feel you watching. Why do you not come forward?”    
  
Her clear blue gaze searched for him and his heart lurched within his chest. He wished nothing more than to step from the shadows, to take her hand and her lips and claim her as his own. But she was not for him. She was young and filled with life, and to love him was a curse. He would not subject her to the shadows and watch as her light dimmed over the years. He would not be her demise. No, he would stay silent, he would stay hidden, and he would love her from afar.   
  
The breeze picked up, pressing her thin russet gown against her body and carrying her scent to him on warm currents of summer air. Her hair was like a living thing as it fluttered around her shoulders and face despite her futile attempts to tame it and tuck it behind her ears.    
  
“Long have I felt your gaze when I walk the garden paths, long have I known that you walk with me unseen.” She began to wander off the cobbled path, her eyes darting to every hidden place, seeking the one she knew lingered just out of sight. “I have the strangest sense that I know you, that we have met before.” Her long, coppery hair brushed the ground as she bent to look beneath hedges and under benches. She rose on tiptoe to peer over bits of fallen stone walls and as her gown lifted he could see that her feet were bare. “Will you not come forth?” She stopped beside a briskly flowing little stream and stared into its depths. The area was shaded with overhanging branches and the ground was soft with moss and covered in shifting shadows. “Will you say nothing?” she whispered so quietly he could hardly discern her words from the sound of the water or the leaves in the breeze.    
  
He turned to go for he could bear it no longer but her words stopped him in his tracks. “I dream of you, you know. From the shadows, you come to claim me and willingly I go. Within my dreams, I feel your love, your desire, and I am not afraid.”    
  
Her words drew him closer, closer than he had ever been before. She was within his grasp, so close he could reach out and touch her. He lifted his hand, his fingers lingering above the silken hair cascading down her back.    
  
“Tomorrow I marry. My father has found one whose wealth is greater than his own and he sends me to him, though I do not wish to go.” Her head lifted as if she felt his presence behind her. He could see the fine hairs of her arms standing on end, her skin prickled with goose flesh. He could hear her breathing grow uneven. “If you ask it of me, I will go with you. I care not the consequences.”    
  
Her whispered words pierced his heart and froze his hand in mid-air. She wished to be his! But to be his would be her ruin and this he could not allow. Squeezing his eyes closed, he began to back away slowly, back to the shadows where he belonged.    
  
“Wait! Do not go. Please!”    
  
His eyes flew open to find that she had turned and held him within her inescapable blue gaze. She stepped towards him but he stepped away, shaking his head.    
  
“You are as beautiful as you are in my dreams,” she murmured, a small smile blooming on her pink lips. She slowly moved forward with one hand outstretched and he found himself rooted to the spot. His breathing quickened as she neared and he knew he should flee, he knew he should spare her his darkness, but as her fingers tentatively brushed his lips, trailed up his cheeks and tangled themselves in his long black hair he was lost.    
  
He saw only her, felt only the warmth of her touch after centuries of nothingness. He lifted his hand to her face, gently cupping her cheek and stroking her soft lips with his thumb. “Long have I watched you, long have I walked with you,” he said, his voice low and rich in timbre. He bent closer to her face and saw her eyelids flutter closed, felt her palms hot against his bare chest. “Long have I loved you,” he whispered against her mouth, breathing her in. He gathered her into his arms and lowered her to the mossy ground, taking a moment to admire her. Her sunset hair spread like fire on the green moss, her pale skin invited his touch, her bright blue eyes held him in thrall. He could wait no longer. His lips covered hers in a demanding kiss, his tongue tasting her sweetness as she writhed beneath him. He reluctantly broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, their rapid breaths intermingling. His hips rocked gently against hers in a seductive rhythm. “I wish to claim you as my own, but to be mine means to walk forever within the shadows. I cannot ask it of you.”    
  
She held his face within her hands and looked into the depths of his near-black eyes. “Then do not ask it, only know that I go willingly. I am for you,” she vowed and pulled him back for another lingering kiss. His hands slid the delicate material of her gown up her thighs and bared her shoulders and breasts to his searching mouth. Her legs wrapped around his hips and her arms clung to him. She welcomed him into her embrace, and he carried her away on waves of pleasure to walk forever in the shadows.    
  
  


 

**_END_ **

**_Thank you for reading!_ **


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